Conventional phased array antenna structures, an example of which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,655, employ relatively complex electrical and mechanical structures, that contain diverse types of individually packaged RF modules, including those housing the antenna radiator element, and associated RF electronics, power supplies, control processor units and RF distribution circuits. As these modules are typically assembled in honeycomb or mechanically layered architectures, they require large numbers of different types of cabling and interconnects, which may entail the use of thousands of ribbon bond connections for large scale applications. Such complexities of structural design and assembly not only make these systems expensive to manufacture, but result in phased array antenna architectures that have a relatively large size and weight--constituting a substantial payload penalty for airborne and spaceborne applications.